State v. Crombie

341 P.3d 841, 267 Or. App. 705, 2014 Ore. App. LEXIS 1784
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedDecember 24, 2014
DocketCR1212185; A152462
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 341 P.3d 841 (State v. Crombie) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Crombie, 341 P.3d 841, 267 Or. App. 705, 2014 Ore. App. LEXIS 1784 (Or. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

ORTEGA, P. J.

Defendant appeals a judgment holding him in contempt for violating a restraining order issued under the Family Abuse Protection Act (FAPA), ORS 107.718. He challenges the trial court’s denial of his motion for judgment of acquittal, contending that the trial court erred in concluding that a document that he filed with the court in dissolution proceedings violated the FAPA order. We conclude that the trial court did not err in concluding that the document constituted a willful violation of the “no-contact” provision of the order and did not fall into an exception for documents filed with the court. Accordingly, we affirm.

“We review the denial of a motion for judgment of acquittal * * * to determine whether the record contains evidence from which a rational trier of fact, drawing all reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the state, could find all elements of contempt beyond a reasonable doubt.” See State v. Graham, 251 Or App 217, 218, 284 P3d 515 (2012).

The underlying facts are undisputed. Shortly before filing for divorce from defendant, the victim obtained a standard-form FAPA order that prohibited defendant from, among other conduct, “intimidating, molesting, interfering with or menacing” the victim. An exception to this restraint on contact with the victim provided that “nothing in this order prevents [defendant] from serving or providing documents related to a court * * * case to the [victim] in a manner permitted by law.”

Thevictimthenfiledfordissolutionofmarriage,claiming the customary “irreconcilable differences.” Both parties were unrepresented in the dissolution proceedings. Defendant filed a response and counterclaim, directly addressing the victim’s proposed dispositions regarding property distribution and child custody. Defendant later sent the victim a five-page document captioned, “Addendem [sic] to Response and Counterclaim” (“addendum”), in which he disputed the victim’s claim of “irreconcilable differences.” In it, defendant listed reasons why the couple should not divorce, ostensibly addressing the court and referring to the victim in the third person:

[707]*707“There are no truly irreconcilable differences between the parties and the current family crisis does not necessarily need to end in the Dissolution of this Marriage.
“[Defendant] *** will accept the Dissolution of this Marriage, but prays that the Court and the [victim] would consider the following statement of facts:
“I love my wife more than anything in this world.
“I know I messed up big and did emotional damage that cannot easily be fixed, but that is not who I am. That is not what I have been about over the last 32 years.
“My every effort and my daily thoughts are always about my lovely wife and children. All I ever do is go about my daily efforts to try providing for my family and their future and while I am doing that I think only of how nice it will be to go home and see my wife’s beautiful smile and smell her sweet smell as I hold her in my arms because when I am holding my wife, I know that everything will be OK.
“I would do anything for my wife, including suffering the pain of letting go; if that is what I must do for her to be able to be happy, but I believe that if we were to try Marriage Counseling and if we both tried to consider the other person’s needs, we could work this problem out and heal the damage that has been done.”

Defendant then proceeded to provide his account of various events that had transpired and apparently caused conflicts between the parties, to explain his own various choices, and to talk about his desire to “grow old” with the victim. He continued:

“If my wife has developed a relationship outside of the Marriage then I can understand why she has been unwilling to try any reasonable efforts to repair our Marriage and I wish the best for her.
“If my wife has not developed a relationship outside of our Marriage, or if she is willing to give up any other relationships, I would ask that she try one time to go to Marriage Counseling with me before finalizing this Dissolution of Marriage.
“If she has a relationship that she does not wish to give up, I concede and hope the best for them. I want her to be happy.
[708]*708“If there is no other relationship then I would hope my wife to consider the following:
“We have no irreconcilable differences. I am so sorry for everything that I have ever done that has caused her unhappiness. I want nothing but her happiness. Looking into her eyes and holding her gives me so much peace. Her touch relieves all my stress. I have never been with another woman in my life and I don’t want to be. I love her and want to share the rest of my life with her and grow old together and enjoy our children and grandchildren together, but her happiness i[s] far more important than mine. If she must divorce me to be happy then that is what I want too.
“I love her so much, I will always have a huge hole in my heart and life if we end our relationship [;] she is my soul mate and she completes me. I hope she can remember the good before throwing it all away.”

In the concluding paragraphs, defendant addressed the victim more directly:

“I want to thank her for all the time I was allowed to spend with her. I am a much better person for it and I will always be happy to be her friend and/or lover.
“If this is the last thing we share together, I want her to know and remember that I am so sorry for ever making her sad even for a second, and that my heart is full of so much love for her that it will beat forever and forever testify that she is the most awesomest [sic] woman that ever existed.
“I want her to take care of herself and remember I want her to be as happy as possible even if it means she has to be with someone else.
“I wish we could talk to each other [;] I always have things that I want to share with her, but if she is not comfortable with that or it would be a complication to a relationship she has with someone else, then it is best that we don’t.
“Bye Baby. :) I will ALWAYS love you!
“Thank you for every second!”

Upon receipt of the addendum, the victim contacted the police, and a contempt proceeding was initiated.

[709]*709In finding that defendant violated the FAPA order, the court noted that the addendum “seems to be a pleading” but that “it seems to me, plainly, that he — he is directly communicating to the [victim] when he says, “Bye-bye. [sic] I will always love you. Thank you for every second.” The court asked, “How can [the victim] be protected from * * * no contact when he’s doing it and he’s actually using the Court * * * to do it?” The court had “no difficulty” finding beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant had violated the FAPA order.

On appeal, as below, defendant argues that the addendum did not violate the FAPA order, because it was “related to a court *** case” within the meaning of the order.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
341 P.3d 841, 267 Or. App. 705, 2014 Ore. App. LEXIS 1784, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-crombie-orctapp-2014.